The Shotgun Start

We are live Thursday night at the Bixby House for immediate thoughts following the opening round at Pebble Beach. We begin celebrating a certain ace at the 12th hole. Then we react to some early low scores, including Justin Rose’s pace-setting 65 late in the day. Did the USGA go too soft? Will they overreact? Or was it just right? Then we get to Jordan Spieth dressing down his caddie, Michael Greller, and ponder whether it was the usual back-and-forth in that relationship or outside the boundary. Then we’re blessed with a visitor at the Bixby House as No Laying Up’s D.J. Piehowski joins to discuss his early impressions from the first day. We get into conditions, low round predictions for Friday, and who from the top of the leaderboard is most likely to eject. Then Andy reveals the findings of his investigation into the PXG Heroes program which had ads running all day.

Four horsemen ride in this special bonus Thursday episode at the B. Draddy house in Monterey. Andy and Brendan are joined by Billy Draddy for his usual pre-major championship visit and Josh Lewis, Golf Course Superintendent at Sharon Heights G&CC and formerly of Bandon Dunes, Chambers Bay, and Pasatiempo. Josh was the super for a past U.S. Open venue but also on the grounds at Pebble Beach the last two days and provides fabulous insight into how the course is looking as the championship begins. The potential for syringing this week also gets a thorough breakdown from an expert. Josh speaks to the advantages and possible trouble spots of conditioning a course in this region, working with the USGA, how Pebble might play, and if there’s any chance it could get away from them and how that might happen (it won’t). Billy Draddy joins to discuss layering in the micro-climates of Pebble Beach, some scripting mishaps, and if Pebble is the quintessential U.S. Open venue. The panel also covers their favorite holes at Pebble, the USGA press conference from Wednesday, some winning score predictions based on the course conditioning intel, and the tee times they’re watching early in the championship.

It’s U.S. Open eve and we are live again from the Bixby House for a full week of daily pods. This Wednesday episode focuses on the course conditioning after walking Pebble the last couple days and the test that it will present for the best in the world. Can the USGA screw this course up and if so, how? The test, however it goes, may not sit well with one player, who is concerned setups have become a “physics issue” and that the “friction values” on the greens are just not what they need to be. Then we get into another tour de force Brooks Koepka press conference on FOX slights, whiny players, and how no one in the field can beat him. We have some intel about the FOX promo he’s so mad about and how it all may be a made up motivational tactic. We also address Tiger’s chances this week, Brandel getting aboard Andy’s hot take train on Phil Mickelson, and if Jason Day might drive up to the Bay Area to offer Kevin Durant a balloon to heal his injury.

We are live from the Bixby House in Monterey for a special Tuesday picks edition with Paulie. We break off from our normal weekly segment on fantasy and one-and-done picks with @FriedEggPaulie for a separate, shorter pod on what to expect this week from a fantasy perspective. We cover certain daily fantasy options as well as the usual one-and-done selections. The pod begins by discussing some of the skill sets that Pebble might accentuate and who it might eliminate. Then we get into some of the favorites, including Tiger, Brooksy, Rory, and Jordan Spieth, who is a hot commodity yet again. We also cover low amateur options and a few head-to-heads. There’s also a digression on the necessity of golf shoes, a serious assessment of Mike Weir’s chances, and an rant on Phil Mickelson to close it out.

This major championship week begins worse for the wear with Andy’s flight cancelled and Brendan posted up waiting anxiously at the Bixby House in Monterey. We review the weekend results, starting with Rory McIlroy torching the Canadian Open with a 64-61 weekend to win by seven shots. Does it mean anything for Pebble Beach and the U.S. Open? We also discuss Graeme McDowell’s big moment getting into his home Open with his Sunday play in Ontario, Brooksy getting out from under Joey D, and low Canadians. Then we get to the Champions Tour, where Scott McCarron won again despite more pictures floating around Twitter alleging anchoring. We also get into Web Tour minutiae with Rhein Gibson’s win and the scheduling injustice of having an event opposite the U.S. Open, where many of its members are playing. Lexi Thompson’s dramatic win gets the award for “finish of the week.” News hits on an outstanding trophy from the women’s game, some early US Open rumblings, and Jason Day bringing in old Stevie Williams for the week.

This Friday episode meanders about the world of golf, beginning with live Assasin updates from the Senior event in Japan. Keegan Bradley’s early lead in Canada prompts another discussion about the proliferation of personal logos. Then we get into all the quirks and curveballs at this week’s Euro Tour event and if it could spark a WWF “Attitude Era” type response from the PGA Tour. Then we have a Friday quotes segment, reviewing Phil’s harsh words and Tiger’s suggestions on the U.S. Open, Brooksy’s ambivalence and potential Joey D betrayal, and Bryson’s self-parody with his motivation for going to the Sticky Note Classic. In news, we hit on some college studs going pro, player videos already ramping up the hysteria about the Pebble rough, a 16-year-old cruelly DQ’d at sectionals, and some early U.S. Open tee times to watch. Fan Vote Friday takes us down the path of some Canadian players’ odd wine labels, one pro’s claim that he’s the best MarioKart player in all of Canada, and the one unexpected moment that Mike Weir said might be bigger than his Masters win. Flashback Friday is a deep dive starting with the 2004 Canadian Open battle between Weir and Vijay Singh, takes a left turn with a crude Jason Whitlock article on Vijay, and concludes with some damning numbers about how equipment in this era prevented Tiger from holding the majors record already.

It’s a big week for the Shotgun Start with a national open and sectional qualifying. We begin with the schedule for the week, going first with the Canadian Open’s big move away from Andy’s nightmare, Glen Abbey. What does this Harry Colt design have in store for this year and in this new spot on the schedule? Will it be enough to earn Andy’s “Event of the Week” honors? We do wonder if there’s a title sponsor conspiracy afoot with some of the featured groups and Brendan has some questions about the Champions Tour sprinkling in a random Japan event between two tournaments in the Big Ten footprint. Then we run through some U.S. Open sectional qualifying results, focusing on a few notable pros, upstart amateurs, and fascinating stories that have made it to the big show next week. In news, we FINALLY give the people what they want and address the abominable Matt Kuchar ruling argument last week at Memorial. Should some sort of system be put in place for failed longshot rules asks? Also in news, we hit on Hank Haney not really understanding how Twitter, or the world, really works. We wrap with a spirited Paulie’s picks segment, focusing on some low Canadian options and some player skills that might be preferable for this Hamilton venue.

A packed Monday episode begins with a wide-ranging discussion on several topics from the U.S. Women’s Open. We discuss Jeongeun Lee6’s two-shot win and the relatability of some of the emotion she showed. We also discuss how the Country Club of Charleston held up and how the women promote the best and most relatable rendering of golf as it should be and how there were no player complaints about setup like we hear at the men’s Open. The pace of play problems at Charleston are reviewed, which prompts story time from Andy about how they have checked his time in the past in competition. For the Memorial, we give Patrick Cantlay his due, as well as Tiger, who appears back in form, before taking a sharp left turn off a cliff to review the career of Kevin Streelman. We also have a story about a potentially intoxicated tour pro stealing one of those famously controversial bunker rakes from the 2006 Memorial. We wrap with some stories that will build the legend of “The Assassin,” who should be your new favorite golfer.

A rousing Friday episode begins with Bryson DeChambeau’s nonsensical excuses for his pace of play after he was hit with bad times on Friday at the Memorial. We discuss Bryson moving the goalposts and neglecting the fact that playing in a reasonable time is a skill. Then we move to more pleasing matters, namely the U.S. Women’s Open and how Charleston has provided a great test for the best in the world so far. In a less pleasing segment, we address Hank Haney’s awful comments on the Women’s Open. A Flashback Friday centers on the 2006 Memorial, taking us down the path of the famed Henry Picard, that time Jack Nicklaus angered the field using different bunker rakes that made sand shots more challenging, and the 2006 winner Carl Pettersson, whose life and times before and after the anchor ban get a review. Finally, we are joined by ESPN Senior Writer Kevin Van Valkenburg to discuss the fiery comments in Golf Digest from a gaggle of anonymous PGA Tour pros, coaches, and caddies lambasting the USGA. We discuss some of the larger themes from the piece, who looks worse from it -- the players or the USGA, KVV’s three favorite quotes from the lengthy collection, course setup philosophies, the concept of par, and if the fractious relationship is reconcilable at all. Lastly, we finish with a rapid fire reading of a handful of quotes from the piece and adjudge them “Silly,” “Salient,” or “Gotta Hear Both Sides.”

There’s too much golf to discuss! This Wednesday episode begins with the schedule for the week, focusing on some of the notables at Memorial and questioning how we frame a person becoming a “notable.” Then we discuss the funky Belgian Knockout format on the Euro Tour this week getting OWGR points but the Tour Championship needing a secondary low gross leaderboard to satiate the OWGR board. The U.S. Women’s Open gets event of the week and deservedly so as we highlight the best women’s players in the world taking on a truly unique venue for major golf. Oklahoma State’s heartbreaking NCAA loss to Texas then gets a full dissection. We ask if it was too dark to keep playing and if that impacted the outcome, which gives Andy an opening to rant on pace of play. We also again revisit whether match play was the best format to decide it. Some main themes from the Golf Digest survey of anonymous players and coaches lambasting the USGA and their U.S. Open follies is discussed before we go into a further examination on Friday. In news, we enjoy Jack Nicklaus saying he does not care at all about the “chase for 82” and how that ambiguous number may be built on a bed of lies. We wrap with our weekly fantasy and one-and-done intel for Memorial from the expert Fried Egg Paulie.